A
Note from the Editors:Congress is in session for
a short time before adjourning to hit the campaign trail.
Now is the time to contact your representatives and
let them know your opinion on immigration matters. You
do not have to be a citizen to contact the government
and your voice matters. Contact your Representative
and Senators.
Also use your telephone and make your voice heard:

Congressional
Switchboard

202
224-3121

White
House Switchboard

202
456-1414

Bush
Campaign

615
340-2000

Gore
Campaign

512
637-2000

We
encourage you to share your experiences with ILW.COM.
Did you arrive in the US thinking you spoke English only
to find that you did not understand people when they spoke
to you? Did you walk into a grocery store expecting to
buy something to cook for your first meal in your new
country only to find that your favorite food was not available?
How do you describe life in your new country to your family
and friends back home? Share your immigrant experience.
Write to editor@ilw.com.

Scams
Target Newest Immigrants The
Orange County Register reports that immigrants are paying
thousands of dollars to brokers and scam artists who
promise to help immigrants but provide no service. Immigrants
are easy prey for shady consultants because of the long
waits involved in the process and illegal aliens often
have not way to become legal. The article offers a list
of legitimate organizations that can help immigrants
with their immigration problems.

Immigrant
Women and AbuseNational
Public Radio's All Things Considered reports on domestic
violence faced by immigrant women whose husbands control
their wives immigration status in the US. The article
includes an audio link to interviews with women who
are working their way out of violent relationships as
well as information on the social agencies of "Sakhi"
and "Nav Nirmaan."

Dear
EditorMr. Matloff's article attempts
to make a very simple deception: The H-1B program is
misused by US employers who want to use cheap labor
instead of more demanding US workers. The writer dismisses
the safeguards that have been built into the H-1B law
(the labor condition application). He says simply "The
law requiring that H-1Bs be paid 'prevailing wage' is
"riddled with loopholes," nor does he identify the loopholes.
In fact, it is clear that he does not understand the
prevailing wage regulations. For example, he criticizes
an H-1B wage of $35,000 per year as being under the
"national average for new computer science graduates,"
but the labor condition application is not built on
the national average of wages -- it is built on the
prevailing wage in a defined geographical area. More…

Dear
EditorI was flattered to see my name in a publication
so distinguished as the Washington Post, but surprised
to see myself misquoted. I have never written an article
or opinion about the H-1B program nor have I advocated
that employers pay foreign workers less than US workers
as implied in the Washington Post. On the contrary, all
US Employers must pay aliens the prevailing wage as calculated
by the US Department of Labor. Recent decisions have drawn
these wage distinctions very strictly in favor of US workers
and no deviations are permitted. The statement that American
employers are inundated with applicants and resumes for
high-tech jobs is patently untrue, and the characterization
of H-1B workers as "indentured servants" from India, "underpaid"
and "trapped" with their US employers, is fanciful hyperbole.

To
the Editor: Let me take exception to Professor
Norman Matloff's "Taking Exception." In Tuesday's Post
Professor Matloff attacked lifting the cap on H-1B visas.
H-1B visas allow highly qualified foreign nationals to
enter the United States to relieve the acute shortage
of skilled professionals. Professor Matloff arguments
are a chain of anecdotes that he does not support with
hard data from public sources. More…